Five transferred Gitmo detainees served al Qaeda, leaked files allege

[Valin]

Long War Journal:

Thomas Joscelyn

November 21, 2014

 

The Defense Department announced on Nov. 20 that five detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were transferred to two nations. Three of the detainees were transferred to the Government of Georgia, while the other two were transferred to Slovakia.

 

Four of the transferred detainees are Yemenis: Abdel Ghalib Ahmad Hakim, Hussein Salem Mohammed, Slah Muhamed Salih al Zabe and Abdul Khaled Ahmed Sahleh al Bedani.

 

Hisham Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti, the fifth detainee transferred, is a Tunisian.

 

All five of the detainees were evaluated by President Obama's Guantanamo Review Task Force, which was established in January 2009. The task force concluded its work one year later and in its January 2010 report recommended that all five be transferred.

 

The task force did not conclude that the men should be outright released, but instead transferred outside of the US to a country that "will implement appropriate security measures." That is, the task force concluded that all five detainees pose some level of risk, but not enough to keep them in US custody indefinitely.

 

Leaked Joint Task Force - Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessments

(Snip)